Naomi Osaka, Andy Murray and the cruelty of tennis' return

Naomi Osaka's Grand Slam comeback began shortly after 9:30 p.m. local time on Monday with a slow, purposeful stroll onto the court at Rod Laver Arena wearing a colorful warm-up jacket that attracted attention, just as it always has.

Within two minutes of starting, she had two aces. A minute later, she was hitting her left thigh with her left hand as she waited to get the serve of her opponent, Caroline Garcia, just as she always did, especially on this court, where she has won two of her four major matches. Salam titles. The woman who not so long ago was the beating heart of her sport was giving it all again, the biggest comeback in a tournament full of them.

The Australian Open, the first week anyway, was always about the return of bold names.

Osaka returned after more than a year of injury, pregnancy and caring for her six-month-old daughter, Shay. Rafael Nadal, whose comeback from hip surgery ended after three tune-up matches and never made it to Melbourne. Angelique Kerber, like Osaka, is a former world No. 1 and a new mother. Caroline Wozniacki is taking the next step after coming out of retirement last summer after more than three years away and having two children.

Denis Shapovalov, recently a young and rising star from Canada, was here, not so young anymore at 24 and certainly not up and running after six months recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon. Amanda Anisimova from the United States returns after a year of taking care of her mental health. Great Britain's Emma Raducano, the 2021 US Open champion, is back after surgery on both wrists and one ankle. On Tuesday, she will play against American veteran Shelby Rogers, who is an unknown name but returns after six months of absence due to an abdominal injury.

On Day 1, Anisimova showed the promise and power that once made her look like she was destined for a deep run at more Grand Slams. Wozniacki, a former world No. 1, achieved the kind of emphatic victory that made it seem as if anything was possible.

And then, on the second day, came reminders of how hard it is to get back in this tough game.

Andy Murray showed he can serve as a cautionary tale, stumbling and triumphing during the final matches of what may be his final match at the Australian Open after five frustrating years spent trying to rediscover his former greatness following hip resurfacing surgery.

After a frustrating and decisive loss 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to Argentina's Tomas Martin Echeverri and Murray, the former world number one, had some cautionary words about the emotional toll of the return for anyone trying to make a comeback after a long period away from the game, especially the best.

“It's really tough,” said Murray, who also returned from back surgery earlier in his career. “It's not often that players come back eight or nine months after a game, or a year after a game, and start being amazed straight away. It takes time.

“For me, this time, it never comes back, so it's difficult when you're playing at the top of the game to change your point of view about how you should perform and how you should do. I have the highest expectations, and many players are coming back, like Osaka, Wozniacki and Kerber.” “And Rafael… they all played at the top of the game. It will be difficult if you come back and are not at the same level.”

There's nothing quite like getting back into the world of tennis, a game that essentially punishes players by missing some time.

Ranking points disappear. There is no job protection as there might be for an athlete in a team sport, with an organization committed to managing the rehabilitation process, if only to salvage value from the contract. There are no training starts without consequences in the minor leagues to ease the transition to top-tier competition.

For older players, the match, training sessions and matches are all more painful.

“I played for many years, and I managed to push my body to the brink almost every day throughout that time,” Wozniacki said. “Now I have to be more careful about what I do and how I do things.”

Mostly, there is suffering, going through long months of more losses than wins and trying to rediscover the touch, the timing and the freedom to play again without worrying if the next shot will be the last.

““You see a lot of players struggling when they come back,” Shapovalov said Monday after losing in straight sets to 18-year-old Czech Jakub Mencic, ranked 142nd in the world.

Shapovalov said he had gone through some dark moments over the past months, moments when he felt like he might have played his last tennis match, and then he finally started to feel healthy enough to compete at the end of last year. They have now come to the southern hemisphere and have lost two out of two matches.

His friend James Blake, himself a former top-10 player, said it might take eight or nine games for Shapovalov to start feeling like himself. Sebastian Korda, the American who returns several months after a serious wrist injury suffered in his first quarterfinal here last year, said Monday that he is still in the process of re-learning how to play.

“You were hesitant in every training and you were always thinking about it,” Korda said after his five-set win over Vit Kopriva. “There's still a lot that hasn't really come back.”

Shapovalov did not want to think about this scenario.

“I don't feel like I'm a guy who strives for mediocre tennis or strives for mediocre results,” he said. “It's definitely something I'm thinking about if I can't get back to 100% then I won't play again.”

Osaka and her coach, Wim Wiesette, said in December that they were not concerned about her results in Australia. Osaka started exercising in October, just three months after giving birth. These first tournaments will give them information about how far you have come and how far you have to go. Fisette said the goal is to be at her best this summer, during the North American hard courts that culminate with the US Open, a tournament she has won twice.

Now they know she has a long way to go, at least to reach the top level.

On her way to the stadium, she tapped her name on the wall that marked her championships, an ancient ritual. But in Garcia, Osaka faced a No. 16 seed who has been a mainstay in the top 10 for much of the past year and a half, a top player and not a player anyone would choose to face in their first Grand Slam match in 15 months. For most of the match, she did with Osaka what Osaka is wont to do with everyone else, take the initiative, get down the court and make them handle with the kind of power and speed that forced players to get back on their feet and fight for their goals. Strings on the ball before it passes through it.

There were moments when Osaka was up to the test, standing at the baseline and achieving the same intensity, but not enough, not yet. Coming back is hard and tennis is rarely emotional.

She served 11 aces, but Garcia had 13. She won 78 percent of the points on her first serve; Garcia received 89 percent. She lost serve only once, and faced only three break points; Garcia never dropped serve and faced no break point.

Garcia pushed to a tiebreak in the second set, but lost five points in a row to end the match, was unable to chase down Garcia's rocket serve, and her night ended when her backhand volley clipped the top of the net and didn't go past it.

Garcia jumped and jumped across the court when the match ended, knowing how well she needed to play in order to survive a tough test to start the first major tournament of the year.

“She's been through a lot, and I'm very happy to have her back,” Garcia said of Osaka. “Six months after giving birth, she is playing very well.”

Osaka said that she feels grateful for the past weeks because she went through three difficult matches that confirmed her ability to compete in major competitions, but she is a little sad because of the results.

“I am delusional enough to believe that I could have won the championship,” she said. This illusion “is what allows me to win championships.”

Not this time. Maybe on the way. Going back is difficult.

(Top image: Robert Prang/Getty Images)